Post Christmas Mail
by AaronCottrell97
Summary: The engines are resting after Christmas but more work needs to be done. The Fat Controller explains to Thomas that the Christmas mail is delayed and that he and Percy are to take it. However after a rather silly accident involving Percy, Thomas is to take all the mail by himself.


It was Christmas Day on the Island of Sodor. Only two days earlier, Thomas, James and Nia were tasked with delivering coal and Christmas parcels across the island through a great, powerful snowstorm that tore across the island. A most dramatic night it was for those three engines. Most particularly Nia, who had held a sheer fear of snow ever since her traumatic experience in China with Thomas when Yong Bao came to their rescue. But thanks to Thomas' helping support and excellent teamwork between the three engines, Nia managed to get past her fear of the snow and see it in a new, more positive way.

On this Christmas morning, all the engines were spending the day in Tidmouth Sheds as they had no work over the holiday. While most of the engines were happy with the return of Christmas, Nia and Rebecca were enjoying their first Christmas on Sodor tremendously.

"My goodness," Rebecca beamed. "I've had many lovely Christmases in my life, but to spend my first Christmas on Sodor, with all of you is such a treat! So many dear friends for me to enjoy it with!"

"I agree," said Nia. "And my first Christmas here turned out in a way I never imagined, after what Thomas, James and I all had to do that night!"

"I'm happy you're loving Christmas here with all of us, Nia," said Thomas.

"Christmas is always one of our favourite times ever, Nia," said Emily. "And I'm happy you're enjoying Christmas with us too, Rebecca."

Suddenly, the other two ladies had a new thought.

"Hmm…" said Rebecca. "How do you think we'll all feel when the holiday passes? When we all have to start work again?"

"I don't know, Rebecca," said Nia. "Right now, it's just all of us here together for the holiday. It might be quite a different feeling once we're all back at work again…"

Thomas suddenly looked up. "Very interesting," he said. "You two ladies have just reminded me of a distant memory. Something that had happened so many years ago, just after the Christmas before the snow melted and Toby had his tightrope incident with the trucks. A long, long time before Nia, Rebecca, and you, Emily, ever arrived on Sodor. I was enjoying the Christmas holiday too, and I know what it's like to return to work again."

"Really, Thomas?" said Nia. "What was it like? What happened?"

"Yes, Thomas. Please tell us," said Rebecca. "I do love storytime!"

"Even I don't think I've ever heard this story. I'd really love to hear it, Thomas," said Emily.

Thomas smiled at all three ladies, as well as the rest of the engines.

"Alright. So I shall." And Thomas began…

* * *

It was Christmas time. The drivers, firemen, guards and the Fat Controller had been at home, eating Christmas dinner and opening presents. But now the holiday was over, and Thomas and his friends knew they would soon be very busy. All over the island, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and grandparents were preparing to say goodbye to their families and return to their own homes. The bigger engines like Gordon, Henry, Donald and Douglas would be pulling more coaches than usual now, but they didn't mind. It was good to have steam in their boilers again, and to move into the crisp, cold air…

"Lovely," said Henry. "After a long holiday of sitting in the shed, it's very good to start work again."

"Aye. We be most happy to get on with work again," said Donald.

"Agreed. That's that then," said Douglas.

"Hm. Is it, indeed," said Gordon.

Thomas watched the other engines puff importantly away. Soon it would be his turn. Then he realized that his driver had not arrived, nor was his firemen anywhere to be seen, and there was no coal in his firebox. His two coaches Annie and Clarabel shivered and grumbled in the shed. What was the matter?

"Oh, where could he be, Annie?" complained Clarabel.

"Not the faintest idea, dear," Annie replied. "We've been waiting in here for hours! Too cold for coaches like us!"

Soon, Bertie the Bus came into the yard. "Hello, Thomas," he said. "Are you too tired to go out today?"

By this time, Thomas was feeling cross. "Of course I'm not too tired! I am waiting for my instructions. In fact, I've been waiting for hours. It's not good enough. When I see the Fat Controller, I shall say so!"

"Thomas…" said Bertie.

But Thomas wouldn't stop to listen. "I didn't mean to crash into the stationmaster's house last year when he was eating breakfast, and I've already promised that I won't fall down a mine again, so WHY doesn't he believe me?!"

"Thomas," said Bertie. "There's something I think you should know."

"Just WAIT until I see him!" finished Thomas. And then, he did. The Fat Controller, wearing a brand new hat, stepped off the bus.

"I did try to warn you," whispered Bertie.

Thomas was sorry he had been so cross. Would he be in trouble again? But the Fat Controller did not appear to have heard him complaining.

"Good morning, Thomas," he smiled. "Did you have a good rest over the Christmas holiday?"

"Yes, thank you," said Thomas, sounding much more pleasant and patient.

"I'm glad," said the Fat Controller. "Because I have important work for you."

Thomas was pleased. "What is it, sir?"

"With all the bad weather we've been having," said the Fat Controller. "A lot of Christmas mail has been delayed and will be arriving from the Mainland this evening, Percy will be waiting at the depot, but he won't be able to pull the mail train on his own. Furthermore, there is currently a shortage of mail trucks, so there isn't enough for Percy to take all the mail at once. I think he could do with some help. This afternoon, I would like you to go to the Mail Depot. The postmen will be waiting for you and will load sacks of letters and parcels into Annie and Clarabel."

Thomas was very proud. He had never been given so much responsibility. After several problems he had, with his snowplough, getting stuck in the snow to be saved by Terence, then missing some of the Christmas mail once before, he suddenly felt quite special to do so much work.

His driver and fireman reported for duty and Thomas was soon off on his way. He finally collected Annie and Clarabel, who were now rather cold and a little annoyed.

"I'm sorry, your ladyships," said Thomas. "Neither my driver, nor my fireman came as soon as I had thought."

"Never mind, Thomas," said Clarabel. "You're here now."

"Well, it looks like you two will be rather busy as well," said Thomas. As he set off with his two coaches, he told them all about the post-Christmas mail that had been delayed and now had to be delivered with Percy, as well as the shortage of mail trucks.

"So, your ladyships," said Thomas. "You'll be hauling mail instead of people today. What do you think of that?"

"Mail? Goodness…" Annie pondered.

"A little unusual, I must say," said Clarabel.

By early evening, they all arrived at the depot. The postmen were waiting for them, just as the Fat Controller had said they would be. Percy was very excited to see his friend.

"Hello, Thomas!" he whistled. "Come on. We've a lot to do. What do you say to a race?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Thomas. "The mail is too important to take risks."

"Don't worry," said Percy. "I know the route as well as I know my own buffers."

When all the mail had been loaded, and his driver had been given instructions as to where to deliver the mail, Thomas started to leave.

"Can't catch me!" shouted Percy and he rushed out of the depot, past Thomas. But as soon as he dashed off, there was trouble. Unfortunately, the cold weather had iced up the points. Percy slid over them and came off the rails.

"Oh no!" cried Percy.

"What are going to do now?" asked Thomas…

* * *

At Tidmouth Sheds, Nia, Rebecca and Emily were all looking at Thomas and Percy.

"Well, you must have been a little too eager and playful for the Christmas mail, Percy," said Emily. "What do you think came over you?"

"It must have been the Christmas Blues, Emily," said Percy. "I didn't want it to dampen my spirit. But I guess wanting to race only made it worse. And of course, we'll all feel the blues sometime soon after we're working again."

"We'll get through it, Percy," said Nia. "Please continue, Thomas."

"Of course, Nia, and Emily," said Thomas as he continued on with the story…

* * *

One of the postmen phoned the Fat Controller at home. It was very late and the Fat Controller was just about to go to bed. Nervously, the postman explained the situation.

As he finished, he said, "So, I'm afraid Percy has been rather naughty. What do you think we should do?"

The Fat Controller was still in a good mood after Christmas. "I won't be able to arrange a crane until we are less busy. Tell Thomas he will have to do his best to deliver all the mail himself. As for Percy…"

The Fat Controller started laughing. "Accidents will happen I suppose!"

Percy was glad that the Fat Controller was not angry with him, but he still felt very silly for what he had done.

"I'm sorry, Thomas," he said. "Will you be able to manage?"

"I should think so," said Thomas. "Yes, I'm sure we will! Won't we, Annie and Clarabel?"

Annie and Clarabel weren't at all sure as dozens of sacks filled with letters and parcels were transferred from the mail train into them.

"They're very heavy!" complained Annie.

"I'm full!" moaned Clarabel.

"Percy is silly!" they grumbled together.

But Thomas remembered the time one winter when he wouldn't wear a snowplough and had ended up stuck in a snowdrift.

"Don't be too hard on him," he said. "We all make mistakes."

Soon all the mail had been transferred into Annie and Clarabel. The postmaster explained carefully to Thomas and his driver the places where the mail had to be dropped off, to be collected next morning and then delivered through the letter boxes.

"Are you sure you'll be alright now?" he said.

"Of course," replied Thomas.

The fireman stoked the boiler and the driver opened the regulator. Thomas' wheels started turning, with much creaking and groaning from Annie and Clarabel, they moved slowly forward.

"It really is heavy!" gasped Thomas.

Fortunately, the first part of the track out of the Mail Depot was downhill. Before long, they were making good speed. The stars shone brightly in the winter sky.

"I've never felt so heavy and overflowed before!" groaned Annie.

"We may not be steam engines, but with all this post, I feel like I'll burst!" Clarabel groaned.

"Don't worry, your ladyships," Thomas strained against the weight. "With every delivery we make, you'll feel a little better."

As the night rolled on and his driver dropped off mail sacks at the stations, Thomas' load grew lighter. Annie and Clarabel were beginning to enjoy being out at night. They chattered nosily until the driver told them to be quiet.

"See?" Thomas said to them. "I told you you'd feel better."

"Perhaps you're right, Thomas," Annie smiled. "I do feel much lighter."

"So do I!" chimed Clarabel. "Thank you, Thomas!"

Then both coaches yawned drowsily. They did not usually work with Thomas so late at night. When Thomas stopped to take on water, the two coaches fell fast asleep. Thomas felt a little tired himself, but he knew he still had some work to do.

"Shall we wait a while?" asked the fireman. "I'm tired as well."

"We can't," said Thomas. "We have to deliver all the mail before people get up in the morning."

Just then, the driver looked up at the sky. There was not a star to be seen. It had gone from clear to completely covered, which could only mean one thing.

"We better get a move on," said Thomas' driver. "I think a snowstorm is on its way."

Reluctantly, Annie and Clarabel woke up. Thomas and the mail run made good time, making careful haste to make all the deliveries, but even so, dawn was breaking when they arrived back at the engine shed. The Fat Controller was waiting for them.

"Well done, all of you," he said. "Make sure you get a good sleep now. We should have a crane ready to put Percy back on rails tomorrow, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to go out again tonight."

"That's alright," said Thomas as he shunted safely back into his shed. "We all enjoyed ourselves, didn't we?" But Annie and Clarabel were sound asleep, snoring away together.

His driver said, "Goodnight, or is it good morning, Thomas?"

Thomas looked out of the shed window and thought to himself, _"I must ask the driver to fit the snowplough when he comes back…"_

Thomas may have not liked snowploughs, but after all his experience so far, he couldn't make the same mistake again. For Christmas mail, he would do whatever it took. And soon, he fell fast asleep.

By that afternoon, Sodor was covered in snow. Thomas, Annie and Clarabel were rested and full of energy. The driver fitted the snowplough and they set off back to the Mail Depot. There, Percy was feeling foolish and thoroughly derailed.

"I really am sorry about this, Thomas," he lamented. "I've been stuck here all night, and I don't know how much longer it's gonna be."

"Don't worry," said Thomas. "The Fat Controller told me he will have a crane over here by tomorrow. So you don't have long to wait."

This time, Annie and Clarabel enjoyed the night's work. It grew colder and colder. Because he was working so hard and the fireman kept stoking the boiler, Thomas didn't notice.

"We must keep going," Thomas huffed. "Post-Christmas mail coming through!"

But then as they were crossing the bridge over the river, Thomas suddenly heard a quacking sound.

"It's a duck," Thomas said to himself. "What's he doing awake at this hour?"

The duck was quacking loudly for help. Thomas suddenly recognized that quack and stopped to take a closer look down at the river. The driver looked over the bridge too.

"It's Donald's Duck and she's frozen!" he said. "The river's all ice!"

"Look! I think she damaged her wing!" exclaimed the fireman. "She can't fly and she can't get off the ice. She's cold and quite hungry!"

"Oh dear!" said the driver. "It won't be safe for me or the fireman to go out on the ice. But we simply can't leave her there! We'll have to call for help."

"Oh no! Dilly! Don't worry! We'll help you!" Thomas called.

Then Thomas whistled loudly for about ten minutes, hoping to attract attention and get help for Dilly. For miles around, lights came on in the houses as people wondered who was making all that noise in the middle of the night, but no one came to find out why. Thomas tried again.

"Shh…" said his driver. "I can hear something."

In the distance was the whirring sound of Harold the Helicopter. Thomas whistled again and before long, Harold was hovering overhead.

"Evening, Thomas!" he called. "I'm on safety patrol because of the bad weather…you know rescuing people and that sort of thing. It looks as if I'm needed here. Well, you can depend on me! What's going on?"

"Look down to the river, Harold!" Thomas called.

Harold looked down and saw Dilly frozen in the ice.

"Quack!" she called with fright.

"Quack what?" said Harold.

"If you can just go and rescue Donald's Duck, we can take care of her on the train," said Thomas' driver.

"Easy!" said Harold as he flew down toward the river. But it wasn't easy. Every time Harold drew near to Donald's duck, the wind from his blades blew her across the ice so she couldn't hop on-board. Dilly quacked and squawked painfully from her damaged wing.

"Wait!" shouted Thomas. "I've got an idea. Why don't you sort of blow her towards the riverbank?"

It was a very good idea. Harold carefully positioned himself and blew Donald's duck towards the side of the frozen river. Once there, she hopped on and was carried to the bridge where Thomas was waiting.

"Well done, Harold!" said Annie and Clarabel. "You are our hero!"

"Just doing my job," said Harold and he flew off in search of someone else to rescue.

The driver and fireman soon had Dilly warm and snug in the back of the cab, just like Donald once did when his driver shared his lunch with Dilly.

"There, there, Dilly. Your wing isn't badly hurt," said Thomas' driver. "You'll be right as rain in a couple of days."

Dilly quacked and thought to herself, _"I'd rather be right as rain than as wrong as ice!"_

Thomas felt very happy and relieved to have saved Donald's Duck from such a frightful situation. It made him feel very proud. When they returned to the shed, the Fat Controller gave his driver and fireman permission to take care of Dilly for a few days until she recovered.

"But first," he said. "You must get some rest. You've all worked splendidly and helped us out of a difficult situation. I'll tell the others not to disturb you until you've had some sleep."

But they had very little sleep that day, and for the next three days, Dilly would not stop quacking. She quacked about this, she quacked about that or she quacked about nothing at all. She was having a "quacking" good time and she wanted everyone to know about it. Even when Percy returned to the sheds after being helped back onto the rails, Dilly's quacking kept going.

"Fizzling fireboxes, how do you do it, Thomas?" asked Percy.

"I don't know, and I don't care, Percy," Thomas said wearily, trying to speak above all the quacking. "I'm just glad I managed all the mail and rescued Donald's Duck."

All the engines and carriages liked her very much - except Gordon, who thought Dilly's quacking was as bad as Donald and Douglas singing "Auld Lang Syne" out of tune - but they were all very happy when the ice melted, and Dilly soon flew away and back to the river. By then, Thomas could finally sleep well, happy as could be that he had managed to deliver all the post-Christmas mail and help one of Donald's dearest friends too…

* * *

At Tidmouth Sheds, Nia, Rebecca and Emily were all staring at Thomas, feeling most impressed and interested by this Christmas story.

"And that is how it happened," said Thomas. "Post-Christmas mail, so to speak."

The three lady engines looked at each other…then suddenly began to laugh.

"What? What is it?" asked Thomas.

"Post-Christmas mail! Clever one, Thomas!" Emily giggled.

"I know," Thomas smiled. "I meant for it to sound that way."

"That was lovely, Thomas," Nia chimed. "You saved that dear little duck! I love animals so much. I'd do anything to keep an animal safe here."

"And using Annie and Clarabel as your mail wagons," said Rebecca. "Most resourceful, Thomas."

"Thank you, ladies," Thomas smiled. "And what did you think, Emily?"

Emily smiled deeply at Thomas. "Such a merry story, Thomas! I'm most proud of you. You took all that mail to help Percy, and you saved Donald's Duck! I still remember when I met her and learned that she's a mother with her very own ducklings! You were such a hero to save her…and I think that means you deserve a present from me…"

Thomas looked at Emily and could see her eyebrows raised and her smile becoming sleek. He smiled right back and turned round on the turntable to her. Emily then huffed forward and buffered to Thomas.

"Merry Christmas, Emily. My Christmas angel," Thomas beamed.

"Merry Christmas, Thomas. My Christmas star," Emily smiled back.

And with a twinkle in their eyes and a happy giggle to each other, they leaned in and shared a lovely, merry Christmas kiss on their lips for the others to see.

Rebecca gasped with such happiness. "Oh, Thomas!" she cheered.

Nia gasped happily too. "Oh, Emily!" she cheered.

The other engines smiled happily at Thomas and Emily as they kissed for about a minute before they let go and returned to their berths.

"I'm just happy to have us all here together like you wished for, Nia," said Thomas.

"So am I, Thomas," said Nia. "I think this has been a very dear Christmas this year."

"Oh, yes, Nia," said Emily. "This Christmas has been quite the holiday for all of us."

"Merry Christmas to one and all!" All the engines whistled together.

* * *

Second-to-last story of 2019! I hope you've all enjoyed Christmas, or whatever holiday it is that you celebrate, and I hope you enjoyed this adaptation of the "Surprise Adventures" audiobook cassette, a really good story in my opinion, something I've wanted to reference for some time now, setting it during Series 3. Anyway, next story will be the final story of 2019, and it's gonna end of the decade with a bang! So leave your reviews, tell us what you thought of this one, and join us on New Years Eve for "Happy Hogmanay".


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